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Emission of methyl chloride from a fern growing in subtropical, temperate, and cool‐temperate climate zones
Author(s) -
Yokouchi Yoko,
Takenaka Akio,
Miyazaki Yuzo,
Kawamura Kimitaka,
Hiura Tsutom
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: biogeosciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-8961
pISSN - 2169-8953
DOI - 10.1002/2015jg002994
Subject(s) - temperate climate , subtropics , fern , environmental science , atmospheric sciences , tropics , ecology , biology , physics
Tropical and subtropical forests are believed to be the largest source of methyl chloride (CH 3 Cl), which is a natural stratospheric ozone destroyer. However, very little is known about what controls the rate of emission from these forests or why biogenic CH 3 Cl emission is concentrated in the tropics and subtropics. In this study, we investigated the seasonal and spatial variations of the rate of CH 3 Cl emission from the fern Osmunda japonica , which has a broad distribution covering the subtropical, temperate, and subboreal climate zones. The average rates of CH 3 Cl emission from the fern were similar (~1–4 µg g(dw) −1 h −1 ) among three areas, and there was no significant seasonal change in the temperate zone, although the rate was highly variable among individual plants. These findings suggest that meteorological climate such as temperature and solar radiation is not a major environmental factor controlling biogenic CH 3 Cl emission of individual plants, but species with high CH 3 Cl emission activity are more abundant in tropical and subtropical zones. We also found that developmental stage might be an important factor controlling biogenic CH 3 Cl emission rates. These results have implications for predicting future global CH 3 Cl emission budgets and for understanding of the plant‐atmosphere interaction.